I didn't fail the project in Humanities. Hallelujah. I half expected I would. Thankfully I didn't. To celebrate my success, I had made myself brownies. And proceeded to eat myself sick.
Then fall break happened, which helped my general mood immensely. I slept through the entire vacation since I hardly got sleep normally. My fosters were kind of annoyed at my laziness, but I ignored them. And they of course, stopped caring.
The day school got back in session, I basically had to drag myself inside. I didn't want to deal with any of it. I was so done with homework and the people at school. The only thing that kept me going to school was the fact I could graduate and leave in a few months.
Anne was waiting in front of my locker with Jackson. They were adorable, I had to admit. But did they really need to make out against my locker?
I cleared my throat loudly. "If you're done, I would like to hang up my jacket."
They pulled apart at last, and Jackson grinned. "Welcome back from the dead, Rylee."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not the only one that used the break to sleep." I pushed past them and opened my locker. "What were you guys up to?" I looked them up and down. "Not sleeping?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
I wrinkled my nose. "Ew." I put my jacket away and turned back. "Only a few more weeks until next trimester. Excited?"
Anne shrugged. "I guess. I won't have math anymore, so that's a plus."
Jackson ran a hand through his hair. "I actually don't know my next schedule yet, so I have no idea."
"Well, I for one, am very excited." I said, grinning. "I have the dumbest classes, meaning I have easy A's."
Anne raised her eyebrows. "Like what?"
"I'll a library aide, then I have poetry, which you apparently don't do anything in except listen to poems, and I'll be an office aide."
"Dang, you did get an easy schedule. What else?" Jackson asked, seeming interested.
"I'll also be a teacher's aide. And my last class is photography. In that class all Mrs. Goodwell has you do is take pictures." I brushed my shoulders. "Yeah, I'm that smooth. I can coast next trimester."
Jackson looked disappointed. "I should have had you help me put my schedule together this year."
"That's totally your fault."
"Don't rub it in."
I smiled. "I just did."
"So did you want to-" Anne was cut off by the bell ringing. She waited for it to stop and then continued. "As I was saying, did you want to come to Jackson's party this week?"
"You're having another party?" I asked, giving him a dead pan look.
"What? My parents haven't been home much this year. I'm merely taking the opportunity."
I laughed but shook my head. "Sorry, no can do. Parties aren't my scene."
"Suit yourself. I'll be having another one at some point and you can come to that one. You have to see that my parties are actually cool."
I shrugged. "Maybe I'll crash one at some point. But right now, it's a no. I gotta go."
We went our separate ways for classes. I couldn't wait to be free of this.
* * *
Something was off.
I glanced back to see Kason's empty seat at the back of Humanities. I wouldn't normally notice, but he wasn't here the day we got back from fall break. And I hadn't seen him. That was a week ago.
I fidgeted in my seat, antsy for some reason. I wouldn't worry, but it'd been an entire week. And Kason didn't have a normal life. So I was worried something might have happened. I didn't know what could have happened, but I was worried nonetheless.
I pulled out the flip phone, finally deciding to text him. I'd avoided texting him for the past two days. I was probably concerned over nothing. He could have just decided to ditch school. I just needed to make sure.
'Is everything okay?'
I sent the text and immediately wanted to take it back. We weren't good friends, by any means. Would this seem clingy? Or intrusive?
I waited several minutes for his reply, but it never came. He was usually really fast when it came to responding. Something was definitely off. But I couldn't do anything about it sitting in class.
Once class ended, I decided to be stupid and try to find Kason, but someone called my name, stopping me in my tracks. I turned to see Jacob walking toward me.
"Oh, hi, Jacob."
"You seemed to be in a rush, where are you off to?" Jacob asked, looking me up and down.
"Just my next class." I lied easily. "Did you need something?"
He smiled. "I do. I need an interview with you."
I blinked. "What? An- an interview?"
"Yes. I have a class on journalism, and I need to choose two people to interview. You seem interesting, so I thought you could be one of my subjects."
It sounded legitimate. But there was something... off. Then again, I had the same thought every time I was around this guy. "Uh, I guess. If it'll help you get an easy grade."
"Great. When would work best for you?"
"I'm pretty much free all the time, so it's really up to you."
Jacob shrugged. "It's the same for me. Why don't we do it after school today? Then we can get it over with."
"Sure, that works." I hoped by then I could figure out what was going on with Kason. "I'll just meet you out front at the end of school."
"Sounds good. See you then, Rylee." Jacob threw me a wink and walked away.
What is it about him that throws me off so much? It's like my body doesn't like him but my brain is fine with him.
I shook it off. Now was not the time. I made my way for the doors. I was going to find Kason whether he liked it or not. As I stepped outside, I abruptly stopped as Kason's friend, Jay, blocked my way.
He crossed his big arms. "If you're going off to find Kason, I would advise you don't."
"Why not? What's going on?"
Jay didn't waver. "Don't get involved. I'm to keep you away. Kason's orders."
Oh. I stepped back. "He really ordered you to keep me away?"
Jay nodded. "I've been keeping an eye on you all day. Don't go sticking your nose in places it doesn't belong."
My expression hardened. I put a finger in his face. "Something is off, and it's driving me crazy. I'll take this up with Kason myself when he gets back."
"As long as you don't get me in trouble, I don't care what you do." Jay muttered. "Now get to class."
I left, making sure to show him how annoyed I was. Kason disappeared, and clearly knew I would notice. And he couldn't tell me anything? He could at least tell me he was okay.
But it was his life, and if he didn't want me to butt in, I had to respect that. Even if I didn't want to. So I was going to drop it for now.
I kept my mind off of everything surrounding Kason for the rest of the day. But it was a little difficult.
At the end of school, I leaned back against the brick wall by the front doors of the school to wait for Jacob. I wasn't in the best of moods at the moment, and I couldn't really understand why. Maybe I was the thing that was off. I needed more sleep or something.
"You look tired."
I jumped as Jacob's voice surprised me. "Oh. Uh, yeah, I am kind of tired. But I'm fine to do this interview."
"Good. I don't want to inconvenience you."
"You're fine." I assured, brushing it off. I pushed Kason far out of mind. I didn't want to think about him at the moment. "So where are we going?"
Jacob motioned. "We'll take my car. I thought we could go to my apartment. Are you okay with that?"
I answered like a dumbass. "Yes, that's fine."
"Alright, I just want to make sure you're comfortable."
At least Jacob was a gentleman unlike Kason. No, I wasn't supposed to be thinking about him. I shook myself a little, like that would make my brain focus.
It wasn't until Jacob and I were pulling up to his apartment that I realized how utterly stupid this was. I didn't know Jacob, and he already threw me off. Yet here I was, about to walk into his apartment alone. I'm going to end up on a criminal minds.
Jacob saw my expression as he parked. "If you're not comfortable, we can go somewhere else. Maybe your house?"
Having him in my room? Worse. I can at least run from here. And if he is dangerous, I don't want him knowing where I lived. But would be really be making sure I'm comfortable this much if he was a killer?
"Rylee?"
I snapped to attention. "Sorry, I was lost in thought. No, we're fine here. I do know how to fight, so if you were planning something, I would be fine." I joked, trying to lighten the air.
Jacob laughed. "Alright, I won't mess with you. Come on, then."
I followed him into the building and up to the second floor. It seemed like a decent place. Not too sketchy. That made me feel better.
Jacob unlocked his apartment. "Just a warning, it is still a bit messy. I'm not quite done unpacking."
"That's okay, I'm used to mess."
He nodded and then stepped inside. I followed, and he closed the door behind me. It wasn't exactly messy, boxes just sat in random spots all over the place. Other than that, everything was quite neat.
I noticed the bedrooms off to the side were empty, but the one at the end had a bed and anything else that made up a bedroom. "Is is just you here?" I asked in surprise.
"Yeah, my parents are still in Boston. I just came back here for personal reasons." Jacob answered as he cleared the couch in the living room.
"Oh, I gotcha." That was a bit odd, but I couldn't really say anything. I didn't even have parents.
Once the couch was cleared, Jacob motioned. "Make yourself comfortable. Do you want anything to eat or drink?"
I was starving. "No, I'm alright, thanks anyway."
"Okay, if you say so."
I sat on the couch while Jacob moved around in the small kitchen behind me. I was curious about him, I had to admit. He was kind of mysterious. Maybe that's why something felt off around him.
After a moment, he joined me on the couch, a Pepsi and paper in hand. "Sorry about that. Now we can get started." He set the drink on the coffee table and grabbed a pen.
As he did, my phone vibrated. I couldn't help looking at the text. It was from Kason.
'I'm alive. See?'
I snapped the phone shut. Sometimes I forgot he was a jerk, but he was good at reminding me.
Jacob raised his eyebrows. "Was that important?"
"No, just someone annoying. So, interview me."
"Okay." Jacob read something written on a sticky note. "Rylee Barnes. Any middle name?"
"Nope."
He wrote something down. "I'm going to ask some simple questions first. Where were you born?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. I actually don't have parents."
Jacob looked up at me in interest. "Really?"
"Yeah. I've gone through a million different foster homes it seems. The first one I remember was in Oregon. Obviously, I've moved a lot."
"And how long have you been in this current foster home?"
"All of high school. It was easier to keep me in one spot."
Jacob wrote something long, and then finally turned back to me. "Next question, what are you wanting to do after you graduate?"
I hadn't completely thought about that. "I'll get a job and move out on my own as soon as possible. I might go to college for something, but it's highly doubtful."
"I see. Do you have any close friends that might change how you go about the future and such?"
I shrugged. "I don't really have close friends. I've only known the ones I have now for three years. I just kind of do my own thing. I try not to get too attached because I'm so used to moving around so much."
Jacob nodded, a look in his eyes I couldn't quite read. "Have you ever been in love?"
I looked down at my hands. I once thought I loved Tony. I think I loved the version of himself that he showed me. But I didn't love the real him. "I once thought I was. But I was wrong about him."
Jacob continued asking simple, general questions like what my favorite music was, what hobbies were, and so on. It was very relaxed, and I answered everything easily.
"And last question. Would you say you're a free spirit?"
I couldn't help smiling a bit. "Yeah. Legally, I'm kind of stuck until I turn eighteen and finish school. But I do my own things anyway. My fosters don't care about me or what I do either. I actually got a tattoo recently that represents freedom."
Jacob smiled as well. "That's really cool, Rylee. Well, thanks for letting me interview you. It wasn't thrilling, but it helped me out a lot."
"I'm happy to help. School is annoying enough."
"I completely agree." Jacob got to his feet. "Well, I'll take you home, if you want."
I didn't feel like walking. "Sure, thanks."
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Things are going to start getting exciting. In more ways than one ;). Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)